Who is your offering to God?

Romans 15:15-16 But I have written very boldly to you on some points so as to remind you again, because of the grace that was given me from God, to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles, ministering as a priest the gospel of God, so that my offering of the Gentiles may become acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit. We also learn from Paul the source of His confidence in ministry. This should be a great encouragement to us as well. He wasn’t confident in himself. He knew the grace of God was working with him. Paul understood who he was and whose he was. His mission was to minister the gospel among the Gentiles and offer that work of Christ back to God as a living, holy sacrifice acceptable to God. Here’s the way Paul described his ministry to the Corinthians. 1 Corinthians 15:10 “But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me did not prove vain; but I labored even more than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God with me.” I love this. Don’t you? Paul’s ministry was accomplished by the work of the Holy Spirit in him. As the Holy Spirit worked in the lives of the people God gave to him, he considered them his offering to God. Here’s how we can be encouraged today to live to love with Jesus. God is going to put people in our paths each day. He is giving them to us so we might have an offering to give back to Him. As Jesus loves them through us, we are loving with Him. This is 100% the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. It is God’s grace with us. When Jesus returns, our offering to Him will be the people He has given us to love. For Paul, the Gentiles were his offering to God. Who is your offering to God? Can you see yourself giving them to God on that Great Day when Jesus comes to be glorified in the saints and marveled at by all who believe? Because of the grace that was given us from God, may we be ministers of Christ Jesus to those He puts in our paths. May we minister as priests the gospel of God, so that our offerings of the souls of men and women given to us by God be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.